The Necromancer's Tale
by outofpoint
Summary: Attempts have been made to novalise the Diablo II storyline through different protagonists. Here's my twist on it with the Necromancer.
1. Act 1 : Acquiring Transport

Author's note: This is my first fic.I just started playing d2 this year sinceI finally got a new com :) and its so fun. hell difficulty is well... hell... so I decided to write a fic about d2 :)

Act 1 Scene 1

The gossip was good tonight. The bartender leaned against the counter, his ears picking up titbits of information here and there… Some spoke about a dark wanderer, who travelled across the lands, and misfortune befall those who happened to travel in his wake. Others spoke of Diablo, the Lord of Terror, voicing out their horror at the destruction that befell the ancient town of Tristram. He watched as the people streamed in, drawn to the pub after a hard day's work and the gossip flowing round. Ale flowed freely from the flagons the barmaids hoisted around.

"Ahoy bartender! How about a couple of ales over here!" A large, muscular man waved his empty mug at the bartender. The company he sat with hooted and seconded the call. The bartender recognised them. These Barbarians were from the tribe of Korlic, named after one of the great barbarian ancients. Their muscular chests were emblazoned with various patterns of dragons and weapons, and one also bore the pattern on the right side of his face. Their weapons, mainly axes, swords and a single spear, were leaning against the sides of the chairs they were sitting on. As the bartender moved forward to serve them drinks, his attention was drawn to a cloaked figure sitting in the corner of the pub. The cloaked man's unnatural stillness made him seem very eerie. His green eyes glinted from under the hood as he surveyed the people around him. A lock of snow-white hair protruded from the hood, reaching to his shoulder. His figure seemed gaunt and frail. The bartender squinted slightly. Did he just see bone plating covering his chest?

An involuntary shudder caused the bartender to spill one of the drinks. The barbarian he was serving the drink to slammed his fist on the table and demanded another. The bartender quickly apologised and wiped up the mess. As the bartender moved back to the counter, his ears drew in some words that confirmed his worst fears: "Hey, didn't you say that the dark wanderer was sighted not far from here?"

The bartender's hands shook as he prepared the drinks. No, this could not be happening to _him. _Why would the dark wanderer, who had some rumoured connection to Diablo himself, be sitting in one corner of _his _pub?

He whirled around and tried to spot the cloaked figure. His eyes searched the bar, but found no dark wanderer. A creak made him turn towards the door, only to see a whisper of black cloth as the shadowy person stepped out, following a band of merchants.

He sighed with relief, and continued mixing the drinks.

Thalasi had been drawn out from his studies of necromancy by the news that Diablo had risen again. The rumours about what happened in Tristram spread far and wide, some even piercing the depths of Thalasi's study. Discarding several rumours to be false and trusting some to contain some truth, Thalasi decided to go out and find out for himself. There were two parts to the act of necromancy; one part is theory and the other practical. Thalasi had learned much from his master during his time in the dark necropolis. Incantations of spells flowed freely to his lips now, his pronunciation was perfect, and he never missed a single syllable. He had committed all the written papers about the three branches of necromancy to memory. Ask him the details about any spell, and he can provide it accurately with the appropriate incantation.

Practical was another story.

The only necromancers who could summon and cast their spells with ease were those who ventured out into the world, doing great deeds of honour or glory. Those were promoted to masters in their order. Thalasi's master had managed to slay one of the greatest threats to their kind, many years before. A rogue assassin assaulted the necromancers, claiming to have seen a vision of which the necromancers joined Diablo in an unholy alliance to save Baal. She slew many of the necromancers, but Thalasi's master gave chase and managed to slay her in the Kurast docks.

Practical was harder to master as the sudden and quick improvising of the spells and summoned creatures were a far cry from the daily skeleton battles in the academy of necromancy. Casting spells while looking death in the eye was a different experience from shooting the rare tree in the necropolis or the skeletal targets.

Thalasi gathered what news he could before stepping out of the necropolis. The necromancer network had told him of the sighting of a dark wanderer near Lut Gholein. The difficulty was getting to Lut Gholein. As many of the priests of the human world viewed the necromancers with distaste, Thalasi donned a black, flowing cloak in order to disguise his true identity to the random passerby.

On foot, he began his journey to the nearest town. As a necromancer, he preferred to journey by night and seek shelter by day, as he found the glare of the sun a starling change from his gloomy homeland. It took him 1 full week to reach one of the smaller towns at the edge of civilisation.

Thalasi reached the town in the middle of the night. As he approached the rickety walls, 2 sentries accosted him. They were dressed like any other typical kings' man: the standard iron helm, metal chain, leather boots, and long spears. They approached him warily, as if expecting him to attack them at any moment.

"State your name and your business here," the one on the right told him in a gruff voice.

"I am Thalasi, a necromancer." Thalasi threw back his hood so they could see his full features. "I have come to rest and seek transport to Lut Gholein."

The two sentries eyed him warily. Thalasi gave them a reassuring smile. "Be at ease. I mean no harm to you or your town. I just need some transport so I can find out the truth to these rumours about Diablo."

One of the sentries sighed. "You're not the first one. A group of barbarians also came today, much earlier than you. I think they are still up in the pub." The solider gesticulated towards a building. "You can find lodging there too."

"Thank you." Thalasi replied. He stepped into town and wandered over to the tavern. Despite the late hour, the pub was still rowdy. "_I guess this is where I can find a few merchants to follow." _He thought. Pulling his cloak around him and replacing his hood, he stepped into the pub.

An overwhelming amount of stimuli assaulted his senses. He could see many merchants gossiping, the usual drunkards roaring away, pretty barmaids serving drinks and flirting shamelessly with the muscular barbarians, the stench of various perfumes mixed with the smoke from the fire at the hearth… Disgusting. Thalasi did not relish the thought of having to stay overnight here, except that he had to find transport to Lut Gholein. This was nothing like his hometown, where the people never consumed alcohol. He chose a corner table and sat down. Waving away the barmaid who had come to take his order, he adjusted his cloak and scanned the crowed, ears pricked for any news about Lut Gholein.

Luck was with the necromancer, for after half an hour of waiting, he heard a merchant speak: "Ha ha ha! Warriv, are you sure you are sober? Yes, the profits might be good, but who in their right minds would want to travel to Lut Gholein to sell wares, especially at a time like this!"

Thalasi turned to regard this merchant, Warriv, as he spoke to defend his case. "Precisely! With most merchants thinking the same way as you, Lut Gholein would be facing a severe shortage of supply! With the goods I'm bringing there, I can jack up the price and demand lots and lots of gold!" Warriv's eyes sparkled. "Just imagine what you could do with all that profit! I can charge nearly 500 of the normal asking price here!"

"Bah," replied another merchant, "So what if you made all that gold? You wouldn't be able to spend it if you're DEAD!" the table of merchants laughed loudly and prepared to leave.

Thalasi followed Warriv out of the pub. Not a moment too soon, though. Thalasi had a prickly feeling that the bartender didn't like him. He thought he saw the bartender staring at him intensely. Thalasi wondered whether it was because he took up the valuable table space without buying any drinks. "_Oh well."_ Thalasi shrugged it off and approached Warriv.

"Greetings," Thalasi said. "I happened to hear that you are travelling to Lut Gholein. Would you mind if I followed along?"

"And who might you be?" Warriv turned around, addressing this queer cloaked man.

"I am Thalasi, a necromancer," he replied. "I may not have much funds, but I can protect your caravan from the demons that have been rumoured to be running around the country."

Warriv mulled over this for a few moments. He sized up the necromancer, his eyes darting to and fro, taking in every little detail. "Ok, you seem decent enough. I'll pay you to guard my caravan, as well. Of course, I'll be deducting the usual fare for mercenaries since I'm giving you a ride. How does that sound?"

"That sounds great," Thalasi replied.

"Get some rest. We leave with the dawn."

The rickety caravan rolled along the grassy plains. Thalasi sat in the driver's seat beside Warriv, keeping his eyes peeled on the road ahead and frequently glancing back to ensure that there were no monsters lurking, although he didn't feel his instinctive wariness coming up. Since the study of necromancy contained much about the dead and demonic powers, he could vaguely sense when a demon or undead monster was nearby.

The horses grunted and Warriv directed them over the next ridge. The cargo in the caravan jostled about as Warriv reined in the horses as he and Thalasi took in the sight before them.

Long logs were laid horizontally on the ground, piled up to become a wall. People could be seen scurrying around the meagre encampment in the hot afternoon sun, shoring up the walls, circling the encampment, and acting very hurriedly. A shrill whistle blew and the faces turned toward the ridge that Warriv's caravan was on. Even from so far away, Thalasi could hear the shouts and the battle orders emanating from the camp. Warriv clicked the reins and the horses moved toward the strange encampment. "This is strange," Warriv told Thalasi. "They have chosen a spot that is on the way to Lut Gholein. Couldn't they have rested at the monastery that overlooks the path through the montains?"

Warriv pulled the horses to a halt when they approached the campsite. Many faces peered through the walls to look at them. Warriv dismounted from the driver's seat and started to walk towards the encampment. Thalasi just remained where he was. Since Warriv was a merchant by trade, Thalasi figured that Warriv could be more diplomatic then himself, since he knew nothing much about bartering or trading,

A lady, wearing leather armour and a cloak and hood of blood red, armed with a longbow, stepped out to greet Warriv. She introduced herself as Kashya and questioned Warriv on his arrival. Thalasi leaned forward to try and catch what was being said but a glare from one of the sentries made him stop, and just wait for the conversation to be over. "_These people seem very touchy," _he thought to himself. "_I wonder what skeletons they have in their closets?"_

Warriv returned to the caravan after around 10 minutes. Thalasi was grateful he returned. The stares from the sentries were making him feel uncomfortable. "Kashya tells me that the way to Lut Gholein is blocked by one of Diablo's minions, the Madien of Anguish, Andariel. She had taken over the monastery and forced them to flee out here." Warriv drove the caravan into the encampment. "Over there is a lady in purple robes. Kashya told me to ask you to talk to her. They seem to want warriors to fight for them now," Warriv shrugged. "I told them that I was a plain merchant and they seemed disappointed, until I told them about you, whom I have hired to protect my caravan. Even though we did not encounter any monsters on the way, they still wanted to talk to you. I did not tell them about your necromancy yet, though."

"Thanks, Warriv. They might react violently when they see a necromancer. Not many people trust necromancers these days." Thalasi dismounted and approached the lady in purple. She was in discussion with Kashya. Thalasi waited patiently for them to finish.

"Welcome to the rogue encampment, necromancer," Akara greeted him. Thalasi was surprised that she could recognise that he practised necromancy. Kashya narrowed her eyes, but Akara continued, "We rarely get your kind here. I am Akara, leader of the sisters of the Sightless Eye. I am the only priest left after Andariel slaughtered our brethren."

"_No wonder she knows I am a necromancer,"_ Thalasi thought. Usually, differing schools of magic could tell when another practitioner was around. Maybe that was the uncomfortable feeling he felt earlier, not because of the rogue's stare.

"There is a place of great evil in the Blood Moor, where monsters have been gathering." Akara told him. She gestured around the camp. "We are preparing to hold off a siege. The many attempts Kashya tried to uproot the monsters have resulted in failure. We have lost many good warriors in battle." Akara bowed her head in reverence to the fallen. "With your abilities, you should be able to uproot the monsters massing there. Would you be willing to help us? In return, I can heal you and direct you to the monastery."

"Sure, no problem." Thalasi replied. Kashya eyed him suspiciously. "I'll go and look for the place right away."

"Before you go, take these." Akara filled his belt with healing potions and passed him 2 scrolls. Thalasi recognised the scrolls as a scroll of town portal and a scroll of identify. The scroll of town portal would magically invoke a portal back to this town. The other scroll would help him to identify items so he can be sure of their properties. "Thank you," Thalasi said and strode out of the camp, his wand at the ready.

"Are you sure we can trust him?" Kashya asked Akara. "Necromancers seem to have this aura of evil and betrayal."

"We have little choice," Akara replied.

Thalasi walked out of the encampment. His eyes scanned the moor in front of him, searching for that elusive cave. Looking up, he attempted to use the sun as a compass but it was close to noon and the sun was at its peak. "Damn," he muttered and set off away from the camp. He could feel the presence of many demons and undid monsters vaguely as he walked. Thalasi reasoned that when he came near the den or cavern where the monsters were gathering, he should be able to feel it.

A few minutes later, Thalasi spotted his first adversary, a slow moving zombie. Having studied death in his necromancy studies, Thalasi had little fear of the animated corpse. He studied his surroundings: a plain of grass. No trees, no obstacles. Nothing for a bone spirit to accidentally strike. Good. "Time for some practical," Thalasi grinned as he muttered the incantation for a bone spirit, the highest-level spell a necromancer can use. His master had shown him the power of the spirit, and he wanted to try it out for himself.

"_raduno il thee, spirito del mondo nether, per aiutarlo …"_

He finished the incantation and pointed his wand towards to zombie. "_Mosca liberamente_!" he yelled, and a wisp of smoke trailed out from his wand. Thalasi stared at his wand, dumbfounded, as the zombie approached him, attracted by his cry.

"Why didn't that work?" Thalasi asked out loud as the zombie loomed closer. Thalasi gritted his teeth and tried again, to a similar effect. "Damn! Why didn't it work? My incantation was correct, I'm sure it was!" He ground his teeth in frustration and swiped at the zombie with his wand. That just aggravated the zombie more, and it landed a solid punch on his chest. "Ow!" Thalasi muttered as he saw a crack appear on his bone armour. "This things sure can hit hard!" He sprinted to put some distance between himself and the zombie, closed his eyes, and tried to recall the session in which is master had shown him the spirit.

…

"_Mosca liberamente!"_

_A circular ball appeared at the tip of the wand. There were wisps of white smoke trailing the end of the ball, like a human head with a few strands of hair. The bone spirit flew towards a tree, impacting solidly on the trunk. The tree seemed to wither as the spirit sucked at its life force. Once everything was drained from the tree, the spirit dissipated, and the tree crashed to the ground, rotten and lifeless._

"_That was a bone spirit, young necromancer," Thalasi's master opened his eyes._

"_That was powerful," Thalasi acknowledged. "When can I conjure that?" _

"_Only when you have enough experience." His master informed him. "This is a learning process. You can start by conjuring the minor spirits, such as the teeth of Trang'Oul. Only when you have learnt how to control and direct them well enough can you slowly progress up the skill tree and cast more powerful spells. You should not attempt to summon a spirit too early in your training. If you do not have enough experience, the spirit might just attack you instead of the target."_

"_Yes, master."_

…

Thalasi's eyes blinked open. He obviously did not have enough experience as he just concentrated on theory in his study. "Here goes." Thalasi muttered the incantation for teeth, "_Raduno il thee, trang'oul grande del drago, per conced_…" and pointed his wand at the approaching zombie.

"_denti doppi!"_

Thalasi heard a clattering sound and then a _whoosh _as a pair of teeth flew towards the zombie, striking and felling the target. Thalasi grinned. "So, I cannot start with the higher level spells first, eh." He drew on his mana reserves and started to mutter the incantation to summon a skeleton from a freshly slain corpse, just like in the necropolis…

"_Dalle viscere del mondo nether denomino il thee al mio servizio… aumento in su!"_

A crackling black field appeared, covering the zombie corpse. Thalasi grinned manically as the corpse started to vibrate. Finally, it exploded, painting the ground red with blood and gore. A bone white skeleton rose up from the corpse. It wielded a sickle in its right hand and a battered shield in its left. Thalasi smiled. A sickle was his favourite weapon to equip his skeletons with. A fellow necromancer once tried to raise a skeleton with a bow, but forgot to give it arrows. Thalasi's skeleton promptly beat it to pieces with the bone sickle. Sensing more undead nearby, Thalasi slowly moved off from his first kill, disappearing into the afternoon haze.


	2. Act 1: The Den Of Evil

Act 1: The Den Of Evil

The sunlight glinted off Thalasi's bone armour, making the crack down the middle very easy to see. Thalasi shielded his eyes from the afternoon glare and peered to his right. He felt the tugging of his sensibilities, his in-built "radar" sensing several demons gathering there. His long white hair swished in the gentle breeze as Thalasi commanded his skeleton to scout out that area. The skeleton obeyed, its leg bones creaking as it advanced upon the Fallen encampment. _With some luck, _Thalasi thought, _my skeleton would be able to kill a few Fallen before they can launch a counter attack._

However, fortune turned his grim face on Thalasi as the encampment sprung to life. Several Fallen rushed at the skeleton, the red demons waving swords and clubs while yelling "Rakanishu!" at the top of their voices.

The skeleton braced itself, bringing its shield and sickle into defensive positions.

"_Con l'alimentazione assegnata me dalla terra nether, curse il thee…"_

The Fallen whooped as they neared the skeleton, raising their weapons to attack.

"_Amplifichi il dolore thy!"_

Thalasi chose an opportune moment to cast the amplify damage curse. The small demons were bunched together, and so they all shuddered as the curse took effect.

Giving the skeleton the time it needed to make the first attack.

_Thunk! _The sickle embedded itself unto the skull of one of the demons. The power of the curse made the demon feel as if 2 sickles were boring into its head. It gave a whimper and fell to the ground, dead.

The other demons whooped and charged at the skeleton, raining blows on it as the skeleton tried to extract its stuck sickle from the corpse of the fallen Fallen.

Thalasi knew that the skeleton could not take much punishment, so he leapt into the fray, his bone armour shuddering as a cudgel slammed him in the chest. He grinned as he managed to draw some attention away from his skeleton, allowing it to finally extract the weapon.

In response to the attack, Thalasi placed his wand at the head of the creature that struck him and shattered its head with a pair of teeth.

The skeleton wielded its sickle masterfully, parrying one blow from a demon's sword and countered by twisting the sickle, momentarily trapping the creature's sword.

The demon punched at the skeleton, but that did little to stop the skeleton as it used the handle of the sickle to smash the demon's face.

The demon staggered back, trying to find its balance as the sickle came at it again, and this time blade first.

The minor skirmish was over within a few minutes, as the only surviving demon started to flee. Thalasi grinned and sent a pair of teeth chasing after it.

Thalasi regarded his cracked bone armour. "_I guess I have to re-summon the plating."_ Telling the skeleton to stand guard, Thalasi closed his eyes and let the surge of energy fill him.

"_La terra grande e mighty della o dell'osso, lo rifornisce di con la vostra armatura!"_

The air around Thalasi's chest shimmered. White bits of bone began rising from the ground, as if summoned from the ground itself. The pieces of bone began spinning around Thalasi, compressing themselves until they were so thin, they were nearly translucent. Layer after layer, the bone plating covered the cracks and imperfections on his armour. The cracks slowly disappeared as layer after layer of translucent bone covered them. After several seconds, the deed was done. Thalasi opened his eyes and glanced at his bone armour. It was as good as new. Thalasi smiled to himself. The summon spells were coming easier to him now, almost as if it was second nature. _I guess all the experience is helping, after all._

Thalasi looked around at the four corpses. _Should I test myself and try to raise more skeletons? Would I be able to control them? _He mused. "_Ah heck, nothing ventured, nothing gained."_

Thalasi stood over one corpse and closed his eyes. "_Dalle viscere del mondo nether denomino il thee al mio servizio… aumento in su!"_

The familiar black field appeared over the corpse. Thalasi's brow beaded with sweat. The effort taken to draw a second skeleton from the nether world was taking its toll on him. Thalasi crinkled his brow and squinted at the corpse. "_aumento in su!"_ He commanded again. The black field crackled even more violently, exploding the corpse. A shimmering skeleton rose up. Unlike the solid skeleton before, this one was shimmering, as if losing its life essence. Thalasi growled and pulled against the mortal bonds of the skeleton, dragging it back to life. After a few minutes, the skeleton began to solidify. Thalasi slumped to the ground, totally exhausted. This skeleton wielded a sickle, too, but no shield. Thalasi didn't have the strength to summon a shield.

Pushing his tired body back up, Thalasi spied a well in the distance. He commanded his skeletons near him, and used them for support as he trudged towards the well.

_Creak, creak. _The skeletons' leg bones groaned under the additional weight of Thalasi as they marched towards the well. Upon reaching it, Thalasi flung himself to the ground beside the well and took a long a revitalising drink. He could feel himself becoming stronger as his energy reserves filled up.

"_I guess casting so many spells in such a short time is not good for my spirit energy,"_ Thalasi thought as he wiped his lips on his sleeve.

An overwhelming surge of evil filled Thalasi. He quickly jumped to his feet and whipped his wand out. He subconsciously ordered the skeletons to a battle stance. To the casual observer, it seemed like Thalasi and the skeletons moved in union, in perfect harmony, each move complementing the others.

Thalasi ventured forward carefully. The surge of evil grew stronger with each passing step. _What kind of monster could this be?_ He wondered.

Thalasi's foot hit a stone. The resulting clatter drew Thalasi's attention. The stone rolled along the plain and the disappeared. Thalasi went forward to investigate this strange phenomenon. He reached the site and peered down. _No, the stone did not disappear. It fell into this hole. _Thalasi peered inside the hole. It was pitch black. The necromancer took in the sight. The edges of the hole were rough, as if it had only been dug recently. Splotches of red dotted the walls of the hole, before it faded to black.

The overwhelming surge of evil was coming from that hole.

Thalasi had discovered the Den of Evil.

* * *

Thalasi, a burning torch in hand, cautiously looked into the cave. It was still pitch black. _Luckily I decided to hunt around for a torch. _Thalasi smirked. Falling to his hands and knees, Thalasi peered into the gloom. He thrust the torch inside the hole, but saw nothing other than more splotches of red. _This must be where Kashya tried to uproot the demons. _Thalasi found another stone and tossed it in. he waited till he heard the _thunk_ of the stone hitting the ground. _Hmmm, it's not so deep after all. _Thalasi searched around until he found a long vine, and tied it off to a huge rock that was near the hole. Asking one of his skeletons to hold the torch, Thalasi gripped the vine and slowly descended into the gloom.

He hit the bottom sooner than he expected. He glanced up and saw that the hole was not vertical as he thought it was. Rather, it was quite a steeply sloped tunnel. He didn't have to use the vine after all. _Oh well. _Thalasi commanded the skeletons to descend and grabbed the torch from the skeleton's proffered hand. The stench of evil was so thick here that Thalasi was afraid that he would not be able to sense when an enemy approached him. Gripping his wand and torch tightly, Thalasi sent the skeletons forward as shields, and he followed behind.

The necromancer did not have to look far to see more enemies. A huge beast flanked by two zombies was just around the next corner. The beast was covered with mattered brown fur, and had gigantic hands. Its shoulders were a few inches higher than its head, which was protruded forward slightly.

Thalasi winced at the odds and at the sight of those huge hands. He commanded the skeletons to attack the huge beast first as the beast roared out a challenge and came rushing towards them, the zombies taking their customary slow strides.

Thalasi watched as the skeletons surged forward to meet the threat and began chanting the amplify damage curse…

"_Con l'alimentazione assegnata me dalla terra nether, curse il thee…"_

Thalasi waited until his skeletons were about to land a blow.

"_Amplifichi il dolore thy!"_

The beast shuddered as the spell took hold. The zombies where too far away to be affected by the spell, but Thalasi didn't mind. The most prominent thought was to slay the huge beast.

_Slash!_ The two sickles rived as the skeletons attacked the beast. Two gaping wounds appeared, blood flowing freely.

The beast roared in pain and lashed out with its fist at the skeleton with the shield.

The skeleton managed to catch the deathblow with the shield, but the sheer force of the blow slammed it into the wall, and caused the whole shield-bearing arm to fall off.

The beast collapsed in a pool of its own blood.

_Damn! That beast is strong! _Thalasi thought as he conjured up a pair of teeth to attack the zombies.

The teeth obeyed his controlling to the dot, shooting through the bones of the ribcage of the armless skeleton into the faces of the two zombies. The zombies shuddered as their heads were caved in.

The skeletons did not miss the chance to decapitate the zombies while they were disoriented.

Hoots and cries of more demons echoed off the cave walls. Thalasi squinted as the faint flickering of several torches came into view, borne by a pack of 5 Fallen demons. Thalasi grinned. He knew how to defeat these. Intending to repeat the scene of his victory, the necromancer failed to take note of a Fallen Shaman lurking behind the charging five.

The Fallen met the skeletons and engaged in a wicked melee.

Swords rang against bone sickles and clubs bounced off the skeletal forms.

Two fallen went down, screaming, as the sickles pierced their stomachs, spilling blood and gore unto the floor.

Thalasi stepped over the bodies of the Fallen and launched several teeth down the corridor.

One unfortunate Fallen managed to dodge the teeth, only to trip and impale itself on one of the skeletons' sickle.

Thalasi advanced, more confident now, only to catch a fireball right in the chest. The blast threw him backward into the corpses of the Fallen.

"What in the world?" Thalasi exclaimed as he sent the two skeletons forward to attack the Shaman.

Thalasi forgot that the Shaman knew not only fire magic, but some necromancy as well.

A club crashed unto the back of his head.

Dazed, Thalasi spun around to see three of the five Fallen picking themselves up and attacking. His chest smoking from the fireball, Thalasi shook his head and peered at them in surprise.

The one that struck Thalasi grinned and yelled, "Rakanishu!" before raising his club to deal the second blow.

Dazed, Thalasi jabbed wildly at the creature with his wand, poking and prodding it backwards.

The desperate attack proved effective, sending the demon scurrying backwards to avoid being impaled. Thalasi cleared his thoughts and muttered the incantation for teeth; blowing two holes in the unfortunate demon and sending the other two back to their eternal rest.

_Sheesh! I have to be more careful around Fallen, now that I know the true extent of their Shaman's power. _Thalasi stood up and watched as the twin sickles sliced into the Shaman. He felt his chest aching terribly. _So my bone armour does not protect me against magical attacks._ Thalasi grabbed one of the healing potions Akara had given him and downed it, wincing at the bitter taste. His chest stopped aching immediately.

The two skeletons returned to him after completing their task of slaying the Shaman. A few deep breaths later, Thalasi grabbed his torch and motioned to them. They followed him into the gloom.

* * *

It took Thalasi the better part of an hour to scurry around the dark cave, slaying all the monsters he could find. His bone armour had taken many blows, cracks could be seen running up and down the length of the armour. His skeletons fared slightly better, but cracks were still evident on their ribcages and heads, where most of the blows landed.

Thalasi came across what he hoped was the last passageway of the Den. He cautiously approached, feeling the evil presence in the space ahead.

Peering around the last corner, Thalasi saw 5 zombies. There were 4 zombies milling around, and one bluish zombie in the centre of the formation. It looked like the 4 normal zombies were protecting the bluish one. _Looks like I have found the mastermind for this dark gathering, _Thalasi thought. Intending to make use of the skeleton's advantage in speed over the slow and clumsy zombies, Thalasi sent his skeletons charging ahead.

"_Raduno il thee, trang'oul grande del drago, per conced_…"

The 4 zombies took note of the rushing forms, and moved to block the skeletons from reaching the blue zombie.

"_Denti doppi!"_

The teeth flashed past the skeletons, impacting the lead zombie, blowing a hole through its rotten head.

"_Con l'alimentazione assegnata me dalla terra nether, curse il thee…"_

The skeletons reached the remaining zombies, and swung their sickles.

"_Amplifichi il dolore thy!"_

Two zombies were cleaved cleanly into halves. The last zombie slammed its decomposing fist into one of the skeletons, blowing it away.

The other skeleton slashed that zombie to pieces.

_One left. _Thalasi thought.

The skeletons charged at the bluish zombie, sickles raised high.

Unlike the other zombies, this zombie moved faster.

Unerringly, the zombie's fist lashed out, striking one skeleton.

Lightning crackled at the place of impact, and the skeleton fell to pieces.

"What the?" Thalasi stared, dumbfounded.

"_Raduno il thee, trang'oul grande del drago, per conced_…"

The zombie took a slash from the last skeleton's sickle, and returned the attack with a flaming punch.

The skeleton stumbled back, smoking, raising its sickle for one final blow.

"_Denti doppi!"_

The teeth smashed into the zombie just as it landed a blow on the skeleton's head.

The head dropped to the floor, and the rest of the bones followed suit.

The zombie rushed towards Thalasi.

_Oh, no._

Thalasi poked the zombie with his wand, but the charge was too strong, knocking Thalasi into the pile of zombie corpses.

The blue zombie struck at the downed Thalasi, and a numbing coldness spread through Thalasi's body, as his bone armour crumbled into dust.

The zombie, Corpsefire, raised his fist for the final blow.

Thalasi stared at the oncoming doom, his hands coming up to defend his face.

_Will I block his attack?_

Corpsefire's fist landed on the yielding flesh of a face with a dull _thud._

Authour's note: Thanks guys for your reviews! The suggestions are good ones! yup, I'll try and paraphrase the in-game phrases and change it, but no, I am not going to make a new spell. I'm mearly altering the existing spells. :) Thanks for your support! I may not be able to update this regulary (school is starting) but I'll try! Thanks guys:)

Note: fixed all the little spelling errors. i finished it on this site and not msword so i didnt notice the errors. Sorry!


	3. Act 1: A new challenge

Act 1: A new challenge

_Am I going to die?_

Corpsefire's hand slowly descended.

_My quest cannot end like this!_

Thalasi groped about for his wand, his left hand coming into contact with a zombie head.

Corpsefire's fist loomed closer.

_Will I be able to block his attack?_

Thalasi grabbed the zombie head and brought it up before him.

_Thud. _Corpsefire's fist smashed the zombie head.

Thalasi's right hand found his wand.

"_Raduno il thee, trang'oul grande del drago, per conced…"_

Corpsefire's head tilted as it regarded the zombie head.

Thalasi pointed the wand at the zombie's midsection.

"_Denti triplici!"_

Pure desperation caused Thalasi to try and summon 3 teeth, instead of the usual 2. He could feel his spirit energy draining, but he managed to yank the teeth from the nether realm to this realm.

Three teeth burst out of the head of the wand. The range was so close that Thalasi did not need to guide the teeth to its target. The teeth burst through the zombie, leaving three big holes in the zombie's stomach.

Corpsefire looked down at its torn stomach. With a groan, the zombie split into two.

Thalasi stood, panting, savouring his victory over the zombie. He looked at the head he held. In the dim light, he could see that although the head had dented, it was still circular and capable of blocking more blows. _Hmmm, zombie heads make good shields for a necromancer. _Thalasi also regarded his wand. _Although this wand is good for helping me focus my spirit energy when casting spells, it is not good for melee combat. There is a spell that can be used with a dagger, so I should find a dagger to supplement my weapon skills._

Thalasi looked around. The 4 corpses and his skeleton's bones were scattered all over the floor. The cavern floor was painted red with blood and gore.

Looking at the blue zombie corpse, Thalasi saw some items on the floor. _The zombie must have been carrying these items before it died. _Thalasi squatted to pick up the items. There were 4 blue potions and a dagger. Thalasi took the blue potions. He looked at one carefully. If he remembered correctly, these potions are similar to the red ones that Akara had given him, but these replenish his spirit energy instead of speeding up the healing processes of his body. Thalasi popped the cap off 1 vial and downed its contents. They were as bitter as the red potions, but he could feel his spirit energy increasing.

Thalasi picked up the dagger. It was an ornate dagger, carefully crafted. There was a red skull at the end of the hilt, and the hilt itself had many patterns. The patterns wove in and out, and the necromancer supposed that it was some unknown language that was carved unto the hilt. The blade was freshly sharpened, and instead of just a long, straight blade, this one was curvy. It resembled a slithering snake. Thalasi unwrapped his scroll of identify and placed the dagger upon it. Setting the scroll on the floor, Thalasi waited.

As if by magic, words appeared on the scroll. The letters flowed from left to right, as if someone was penning them. When the last letter had appeared, Thalasi pocketed the dagger and read the scroll:

**Fleshripper**

Fanged Knife 

Weight: 0.75kg

Blade length: 0.25m

Abilities:

Poison enchanted

_This dagger will help me a lot, _Thalasi thought as the rolled up the scroll, causing the words to scrunch together and become ink again, which got absorbed into the paper. _Luckily these scrolls are re-usable, unlike those pesky scrolls of town portal. _The scrolls of town portal could only be used once. When the seal is broken, the town portal will draw energy from the surrounding air and rip a hole in space. The location for this hole is the town that the seal-breaker has in mind when opening the seal.

Thalasi looked at the bluish zombie's corpse. _Since this is the ringleader, its head should be a better shield then my current head. _Thalasi took out his newfound dagger and sliced off Corpsefire's head with a swift stroke.

Armed with his new shield, Thalasi stood and looked around at the four corpses. _What a pity to waste them, _he thought.

"_Dalle viscere del mondo nether denomino il thee al mio servizio… aumento in su!"_

Thalasi casted the spell over two corpses. Since his spirit energy was not as depleted as the previous time, the skeletons emerged from the black fields easily. The necromancer closed his eyes and concentrated. There was no longer an evil stench in the air. The den of evil had been cleansed.

"Is that all it takes to win the rogue's trust?" Thalasi asked out loud.

Thalasi took out the scroll of town portal and broke the seal, visualising the rogue encampment. A hole of swirling blue appeared before him. Taking a deep breath, Thalasi stepped through, and his skeletons followed suit.

The world spun. Thalasi felt as if he was spinning, head over heels, in space. Bluish lines of energy arced all about him. He only could see blue.

A few seconds later, the journey was over and Thalasi stepped out of the town portal in the middle of the rogue encampment. Warriv was in the general vicinity, and he came over. "Wow! How did you do that?"

Thalasi laughed at how naïve Warriv was. "This is a town portal. I don't recommend you enter, seeing that it appears in the middle of an enemy cavern. Warriv shuddered and resumed his talk with a muscle-bound woman, who has sitting by an anvil, a hammer in hand.

Thalasi went to Akara's tent. "Akara, I have returned."

Akara stepped out of the tent. Thalasi greeted her and proffered the head of the blue zombie. Akara's eyes widened. "Kashya! Kashya! Come over here!"

Kashya broke off talking to her rogues and approached the duo. Her eyes registered recognition as she gazed upon the blue zombie head. "This zombie seemed to be the ringleader or mastermind of the gathering," Thalasi told them. "I have cleared out the cave of all monsters. You can rest easily now."

Akara thanked Thalasi profusely. Kashya, however, was staring at the necromancer suspiciously. _I wonder what is her problem? _Thalasi thought.

After Akara ended her thanks, Kashya stepped forward and looked at Thalasi. "Akara may be the spiritual leader of this camp, but the rogues will take battle orders from me. Killing a few beasts in the wilderness does not impress me." Kashya glanced down at her bow. "If you really mean good for our encampment, you will…"

Kashya had not finished her sentence when a rogue interrupted them. "Kashya! When scouting out the cold plains with Flaive, we came across Blood Raven! She was raising the dead from the monastery graveyard! We cannot allow our warriors' graves to be desecrated like this! We must launch an attack to kill Blood raven! She has gone too far this time."

Kashya placed her hand over her closed eyes. _So, a quasi-necromancer has been raising the dead as well? Looks like I can prove my worth to Kashya. _"I can go and kill Blood Raven. There is no need for you or any of the rogues to risk your lives."

Kashya opened her eyes and looked at Thalasi. "Very well, necromancer. Be warned, however, that Blood Raven was once an accomplished rogue before Andariel corrupted her." Kashya glanced at her bow again. "She was the one who gave me this bow." Thalasi peered into Kashya's eyes. Did he see a tear at the corner of her eye?

Kashya looked up and blinked the tears away. "Go, necromancer. Grant peace to the tortured soul of Blood Raven." Kashya turned and walked towards her tent, the rogue scout following her.

Thalasi considered his new quest. _An ex-rogue turned necromancer? Now this would be interesting. _Thalasi decided not to re-enter his town portal, but rather to trek through Blood Moor and look for the Cold Plains. He gripped his wand and zombie head and marched out from the encampment, his skeletons following close behind.

* * *

It took Thalasi the two hours to trek across the blood moor and the cold plains. He had encountered Flaive, who was standing guard at the entrance to the cold plains, using her bow to prevent the zombies from straying over to the blood moor. The necromancer had many skirmishes during this time in the cold plains, causing him to re-summon his bone armour and to raise one more skeleton, making the grand total of skeletons three. All of them wielded sickles and shields. Their sickles were covered with the blood of demons and zombies, as was Thalasi's dagger.

Thalasi paused as he came across a split in the path he was following in the cold plains. Flaive had told him that one path would lead to the cemetery that Blood Raven was raising her army from, and the other would lead to the stony field. Thalasi pondered over which path to take as his three skeletons sliced up an unfortunate zombie who happened to wander too close.

Thalasi closed his eyes. Trusting his inner sense, he stepped towards the path to the right, where the stench of evil was stronger.

He was rewarded ten minutes later when he came across a huge area. There were metal bars sticking up horizontally from the ground, seeming like a cage or a wall. There was only one entrance into the yard. Thalasi looked around and saw a mass of zombies and skeletons congregating in the middle of the caged area. _This must be the graveyard where Blood Raven is raising her army. _The zombies looked like the usual zombie: a rotting corpse that can walk and hit. The skeletons differed from his own skeletons. They were wielding swords and shields and were a dull yellow colour instead of bone white.

Thalasi agreed with the rogue scout. He could not just stand around and watch the graves of fallen warriors desecrated. Striding into the graveyard, he commanded his skeletons to attack.

"_Raduno il thee, trang'oul grande del drago, per conced…"_

The undead army moved, the whole bulk of it bearing down on his three skeletons.

"_Cinque denti!"_

Five teeth burst out from the tip of Thalasi's wand. He knew that his skeletons would not be able to last long without reinforcements.

The five teeth smashed into the undead army, felling many. Thalasi continued to send a steady stream of teeth out as the zombies and skeletons clashed in a melee battle.

Thalasi thought he was winning, as more and more zombies crashed to the ground. However, he also noticed that several were picking themselves back up again.

Thalasi knew his skeletons would not last long if Blood Raven kept resurrecting her minions, so he looked around, trying to spot Blood Raven.

His actions were futile; as Blood Raven herself stepped out of the throng, her bow in hand. One of his skeletons crashed to the ground, buried under the wave of rotting flesh, leaving only two bone white skeletons among a sea of rotting flesh.

A chilling voice spoke out.

"Join my army of the dead."

Blood raven levelled her bow at Thalasi and fired, a blazing fire arrow arcing towards Thalasi.

Thalasi raised his shield as he dodged, and sent out a pair of teeth to strike Blood Raven.

Unlike Corpsefire, however, Blood raven still retained much of her original dexterity. She dodged the two missiles, causing them to smash into the unfortunate zombies behind her. When she completed her movement, she sent two arrows flying at Thalasi.

The necromancer caught one arrow with his shield, and the other smashed against his bone armour, embedding itself unto his chest plate.

One more of Thalasi's skeletons went crashing to the ground.

Thalasi raised his wand, thinking to raise another skeleton from the corpses of the slain zombies around, but was forced to dodge and defend himself as Blood Raven sent more arrows flying his way.

Thalasi's final skeleton collapsed.

_This is going to be … challenging. _Thalasi thought, his mind recalling the incantation for yet another summon spell as he continued to defend himself against the arrows.

With the skeletons vanquished, the remaining army of 5 zombies and 2 skeletons turned towards Thalasi.

_I'd better hurry._


	4. Act 1: The Hunt for Cain

Act 1: The Hunt for Cain

Thalasi fell to the ground, an arrow zinging right above his head. He knew he did not have much time left. Blood Raven kept pinning him down with her excellent archery skills, and her small army was advancing towards him.

Thalasi placed one hand on the ground, and started to chant.

"_Io infond vita voi, terra! Aumentare in su e difend vostro padrone_!"

The ground around Thalasi's hand trembled. The earth started to crack. Black steam rose from the cracks, seemingly drawn out from the nether world itself. The cracking of the earth continued, as if the earth was splitting below the surface.

Blood Raven paid to heed to the events happening, and fired a flaming bolt right at the head of the necromancer.

Just as the bolt was about to connect, a two-metre tower of earth emerged from the ground, impacting the arrow and flinging it aside. Thalasi grinned at the timely save, confident that his new spell was working correctly.

Cracks ran down the tower, and it suddenly burst apart, revealing a stout figure inside. At a cursory glance, the figure could just pass off as a human, except that it was brown and had cracks running up and down the entire length of its body. The figure shook off the remaining dust from its body, revealing two powerful arms and a stout frame. Its shape was generally humanoid, but it had shoulder blades about one and a half times the length of Thalasi's and had a head but no face.

"Attack her, golem." Thalasi commanded out loud. Theoretically, the golem could be commanded by his thoughts alone, but he wanted to play safe this time.

The golem obeyed. It charged at Blood Raven with unholy speed that far outstripped what its body looked capable of. Blood Raven, however, was still as nimble as ever, and managed to dodge the heavy punch that the golem launched. She telepathically commanded her zombies and skeletons to attack this new monster while she sprinted to the pile of corpses, intent on raising more zombies to aid her.

Thalasi saw that move, and was confident in his golem's ability to hold off her creatures. After all, its body was made out of the solid earth, and the weapons Blood Raven's minions wielded would do pitiful damage against his golem.

Thalasi did not intend to allow Blood Raven to raise more zombies, and so sprinted after her, his wand pointing to the pile of corpses and his lips chanting yet another spell…

"_Liber agonia vostro morte, guasto essere! Inond terra con vostro rabbia_!"

Blood Raven reached the corpses just as Thalasi completed his incantation. She bent down over one corpse, preparing to revive the body, when it started to tremble violently. Blood Raven halted her casting, as if in shock, giving the body all the time it needed to detonate. The vibrations increased to a fever pitch, then the corpse exploded violently, the concussion knocking Blood Raven off her feet and painting the ground red with blood and gore.

Seeing his chance, Thalasi immediately started to detonate more corpses, using the corpses around Blood Raven as his ammunition. Corpses around Blood Raven started to vibrate and explode, catching her off guard as she was trying to recover. The explosions tumbled Blood Raven around the vicinity, until one particularly big explosion threw her upon the few remaining corpses in the graveyard.

Thalasi gulped down a blue potion and pointed his wand at the corpse, his eyes burning with an inner blue fire, his features contorted by his anger and fatigue, his lips twisted into a maniacal grin as he completed the spell.

Blood Raven looked into the eyes of her slayer just as the corpse detonated underneath her, the shockwaves ripping her undead body apart.

At the destruction of Blood Raven, her remaining minions collapsed back into their inanimate forms, leaving Thalasi's clay golem standing in the middle of the graveyard, surrounded by corpses.

Thalasi walked over to where Blood Raven's head lay, thinking to bring that back as proof of his victory. As he picked up the head, he was surprised at the expression on her face. He was expecting anger, maybe resignation, but they opened eyes were staring at him with… gratitude. In the heat of the battle, he did not notice, but now, upon closer inspection, her face seemed to bear a semblance of peace and thankfulness.

"_Maybe some portion of the noble human in her still existed, but was too weak to resist the commands of Diablo." _Thalasi thought, his hatred for the demon increasing. Even though people looked upon necromancers with disgust and even open hatred, their order never bent any living person's will to their needs. They only reanimated and studied the dead. Unlike what had transpired here. Blood Raven was obviously not dead before Andariel corrupted her.

"_I will find this foul demon and banish her back to the depths of hell, where she belongs."_

Thalasi ripped open another town portal scroll and stepped into its midst, carrying his gruesome prize. The clay golem followed silently behind him.

The familiar blue portal transported him back to the rogue encampment. Evening had fallen, and Warriv was nowhere to be seen. Thalasi assumed he had found a tent to stay in, or had returned to the caravan. He looked around for Kashya's tent, his searching the many identical white tents.

After a while, he managed to spot one tent with a unique marking over the tent flap, which he assumed to be of some importance. _Kashya or Akara should be inside there. _Thalasi walked to the tent and cleared his throat. There were sounds of shuffling before Kashya come out of the tent.

Kashya looked horrified at the sight of Thalasi standing outside her tent, his hand gripping a severed head.

"I have defeated Blood Raven. Your brethren can now rest in peace, as will Blood Raven's spirit."

Thalasi handed over the head, aware that Kashya may want to bury what remained of her friend. However, Kashya declined. "Thank you, necromancer, for ending her torment. Even though I was once her best friend, I could not bring myself to kill her, no matter what." Kashya looked up at Thalasi. "Maybe I have misjudged your kind. Do come in and rest, for you have had a hard day." Thalasi accepted the thanks and placed the head outside the tent before continuing in.

Akara was already inside the tent. From the many parchments they had on the table, it was evident that they were having a heated discussion before Thalasi arrived. The interior of the tent seemed larger than what could be seen from the outside. A fairly large table occupied the centre of the tent, and 4 chairs where scattered around the table. Akara was seated on one of these chairs. There were many items tossed haphazardly on the sides of the tent. Thalasi took the proffered seat and Kashya sat down beside Akara.

After Thalasi updated them about the death of Blood Raven, and how he suspected Andariel managed to dominate her even when alive, Akara's face tightened.

"It is clear that we are facing an Evil difficult to comprehend, yet alone combat. There is only one Horadrim Sage, schooled in the most arcane history and lore, who could help us… his name is Deckard Cain. You must travel to the lost town of Tristram. I pray that he still lives."

Thalasi mulled over the prospect of visiting that doomed town. "How am I going to find my way there? By all the ancient texts, it was sealed off after Diablo passed through."

Akara pointed at one of the parchments on the desk. "The ancient texts that we have recovered from the monastery depict a way in which you can pass through to Tristram. By finding the scroll on the Tree of Inifuss and deciphering the code, the pathway to Tristram will be opened. If you could retrieve the scroll for me, I can interpret it and tell you the exact location of where to unlock the seal."

Kashya stood up. "Come with me, Thalasi. There is something I can show you that would increase your travelling speed." Thalasi followed her as she exited the tent.

Kashya led Thalasi to a corner of the encampment. There was a design sketched into the dirt. It resembled a huge circle, with a cross inside it. There were 4 blue flames, one at each end of the cross.

"When we fled the monastery, we managed to find out how to use and manipulate these formations. We have lost the knowledge of what they were called, and so now we refer to them as 'waypoints'. Akara managed to access many of the waypoints as we fled from the monastery, and they are bond together with ancient magic. By stepping into the portal and evoking several words, the waypoint can transport you to the other various waypoints that we discovered. Our scouts tell us that the tree of inifuss is closest to the waypoint we named 'Dark Wood', but is guarded by a huge beast. To travel there, step into the waypoint and say the activation phrase, 'luce mio percorso' followed by a pre-determined waypoint. For example, to travel to the dark wood, just say "luce mio percorso dark wood" and you will be teleported to the dark wood waypoint."

"Thank you, Kashya." Thalasi replied.

"No problem. I suggest only going after the scroll tomorrow, you should rest tonight."

Thalasi laughed. "For most humans, that would be true. But my order has been trained in the dark arts of death and undeath, and so we prefer to use the night rather than the day. I am more comfortable at night. Thank you for your concern, but I would rather start the search for the scroll right away."

"As you wish, necromancer, as you wish."

Thalasi unsummoned his golem, causing the clay to disintegrate and fall to the ground in large chunks. Scooping up the remains, he buried Blood Raven's head in one corner of the camp, and set a gravestone there. After paying his respects, Thalasi strode towards the waypoint and stood in the centre. "luce mio percorso dark wood" he chanted, and a bluish light surrounded him and blocked off all outside vision.

After what seemed like an eternity, the blue haze around his vision lifted. He was standing in a circle similar in design to the one at the rogue encampment, only that this one was far out in the wilderness. Thalasi could see a patch of dense forest up ahead. _This must be the dark wood. _Thalasi thought.

He summoned his clay golem back from the ground and strode into the forest, the darkness swallowing him and his golem up as they strode into the gloom.

Note: Sorry for the lack of updates as I played too much dota lolz. anyway, my exams are coming, so i don't think i will update for quite a while. Thanks for all the reviews!


	5. Act 1: Securing The Scroll

Hi guys i'm back from a long long hiatus like more than half a year? lol. so sorry cos after my exmas i dotaed like mad lol... but now i'll be more active in updating this. since i havent written in quite long, if you noticed some quality difference pls point it out and i will try my best to improve. although i am already trying to improve so if there is some inferior quality juz review it :)

ok thanks enjoy!

Act 1: Securing the scroll

_So, this is why they call it the 'Dark Wood'._

Night had fallen, blanketing the whole wood with its dark embrace. Tendrils of mist rose from the ground, resembling skeletal hands clutching at the roots of the forest. Unlike any normal forest, filled with the melody of chirping insects, this forest was deathly quiet. Not even a breeze cared to caress the leaves hanging limply from their branches.

Thalasi peered into the blackness, his eyes straining to see what lay ahead. His clay golem plodded silently behind.

_I can't even see a few yards ahead! But, it looks like the demons cannot see much is this suffocating darkness either._

Thalasi glanced up. Little cracks of moonlight were streaming down through the layer of foliage that covered the top of the forest. After an hour of trekking through the forest, Thalasi still hadn't found the elusive tree, but neither have any demons sprang up to attack him.

_Maybe I should travel more during the night._

Thalasi meandered slowly through the woods. There were many entangling roots and potholes on the ground, ready to trap or cripple a careless adventurer. But, Thalasi was far from careless. His training at the dark necropolis enabled him to see clearly even with little light. However, this wood was testing him, forcing him to push against the limits of his vision. As wondrous as a necromancer's sight can be at night, light is still needed for sight.

And there was very little light in the woods.

After yet another hour of trekking, Thalasi spotted a clearing through the foliage he was combing through. Pushing aside branches to get a better view, Thalasi scanned the clearing.

The clearing was completely bare of trees. It formed a rough circle, with radius of around 5 yards. In the middle of the circle stood a gigantic tree, its branches and trunk glowing with an eerie colour. The tree was totally devoid of leaves, and its many branches were reaching up towards the sky. Runes and incomprehensible letters were traced around its trunk.

_This must be the tree of Inifuss._

Thalasi looked around the clearing, checking for any demons. As there were no other trees, the moonlight shone clear and strong into the clearing, basking everything in its white light. Thalasi's inner sense also did not sense the stench of demons hanging around in the air.

_How am I supposed to get a scroll from this tree?_

Thalasi cautiously strode up to the tree. Halfway across the clearing, Thalasi froze. He heard heavy footsteps approaching him. Each footstep sent tremors into the ground under Thalasi. _These creatures must be huge to cause the earth to shake like this!_

Pulling out his wand and shield from his backpack, Thalasi sent his golem out front, while taking a supportive role at the back.

An ear-splitting roar shattered the calm night air as a trio of beasts charged at Thalasi. They were similar in appearance as the beast he had encountered in the den of evil: oversized hands, small heads, and fearsome strength. Two of the beasts had a dark brown fur but one of them had a lighter coloured fur. It was a wonder Thalasi did not notice them until now. They were hiding in a patch of trees just outside his line of vision, hiding in the shadows of the trees in front of him.

Thalasi's doubts about how the creatures expected to ambush him from so far away came clear in an instant: they charged across the clearing with great strides, gobbling up the ground from under their feet. Thalasi could not believe at the ridiculous speed they were moving at.

Just as the beasts smashed into his golem, Thalasi waved his wand and cursed them:

"Lasci il nero abbracciare del mondo nether engulf la vostra visione!"

Black orbs appeared around the beasts' eyes. They roared as their vision was cut down to almost nothing. The clay golem wasted no time, smashing its rock hard fist through the skull of one of the monstrous beasts. It roared as the golem cracked its skull and was sent flying back with another heavy punch.

The other two beasts wasted no time in attacking the golem. As they pounded hard on its body, Thalasi could see cracks appearing, and clay dust flying into the air. Hardy as his golem may be, the beating seemed to be taking its toll. The beast with a lighter shade of brown fur had particularly huge muscles, Thalasi could see that they outstripped the size of the other beast by at least two times.

With such big opponents, Thalasi wondered if his teeth spell was enough to finish them, as the teeth may only cause a flesh wound. Running forward, Thalasi remembered that he had a dagger. His lips curved upwards an incantation came to mind.

He withdrew his dagger, the blade gleaming with the in-built poison. Thalasi gripped the dagger in his right hand, and bit his left index finger. As the blood flowed, he dripped some unto the dagger and cast his spell.

"Gli alcoolici del mondo di sotto, prendono la mia offerta dell'anima! Lasciste esso filtrisi nelle ferite di molti e funga da veleno mortale!"

The red drops of blood on Thalasi's dagger started to bubble, as if they were boiling hot. The liquid itself spread out, defying the law of gravity as it encompassed the blade in a boiling red sheath. The red colour then seemed to fade off the blood, leaving a greenish looking residue. Thalasi quickly went behind the biggest beast, his dagger now giving off green steam.

With the dim vision curse and it being distracted by the golem, the beast never saw Thalasi rushing at its back. What it did feel, however, was the poison enchanted dagger pierce into its hide.

Thalasi viciously dragged the dagger down, inflicting a deep, ragged gash on the back of the beast. It roared in agony and swung its fist around, smacking Thalasi squarely in the chest and launching him toward the tree. _By golly, this beast is strong! _The bone armour on Thalasi's chest shattered upon the impact of the huge fist.

Wheezing, Thalasi picked himself up to view how effective his poison was. The dagger, already having poison blended into its blade when being smithed, was even deadlier after Thalasi coated it with another layer of poison from the spell.

The beast roared and collapsed, its limbs flailing wildly. It uttered incomprehensible growls and grunts as it was thrashed wildly on the ground. Its companion turned its attention from the clay golem to regard the dying creature, and the golem seized the opportunity to counter attack. It rained heavy blows on the beast just as the dying creature had its last spasm.

Thalasi watched from the base of the tree, his chest heaving as he caught his breath.

The second creature tried to defend itself from the barrage of punches, but unlike the golem, the beast was capable of feeling pain. It howled in agony as the repeated punches took its toll on its defensive posture. The golem, noticing that the beast was weakening, increased its attacks twofold and pounded the beast into the dirt.

Thalasi stood up and spent several minutes trying to regain his breath. That act completed, he summoned 3 skeletons from the corpses of the beasts and forged a new layer of bone plating for his chest.

Thalasi turned around to regard the tree. _How am I supposed to grab the scroll off this tree?_ He traced his hands over the runes that ran across the trunk, trying to make sense of it.

All of a sudden, the tree shuddered violently. Alarmed, Thalasi hopped backward and whipped out his wand, pointing at the tree. The skeletons and golem moved in concert, the golem guarding Thalasi's back while the skeletons formed an arc around the tree, encircling Thalasi.

A yawning gap appeared in the trunk around Thalasi's shoulder, gaping like a human yawning. Remarkably, the trunk itself did not seem damaged but rather seemed to compress the layers of bark around the gap so that it formed a rough circle. A hollow sound emitted from the depths of the tree, much akin to a human coughing, only much deeper in volume. One end of a rolled-up piece of parchment slowly started to emerge from the black depths. Thalasi narrowed his eyes and hesitantly reached out and removed the parchment.

_So, Akara literally did mean for me to find a scroll on the tree._

Thalasi unravelled the scroll. It was blank. _A blank scroll. Now that is interesting. How is Akara going to interpret this?_

Thalasi realised that pondering about the scroll out in the open would not be an efficient use of time, nor was it safe. He shrugged and rolled the scroll back to its original form and stashed it in his pack. At his mental command, the golem took the point and the skeletons flanked Thalasi as he proceeded back towards the waypoint.

Unlike the peaceful trekking he had experienced, the return trip was more unsettling. Thalasi could feel the hairs on the back of his neck prickling up as he continuously glanced from side to side, trying in vain to spot whatever was bothering him. The stench of demons had filled the air. It looked like the deaths of the three beasts had somehow awoken many of the demons in the area.

Thalasi did not have long to wait. Just as the moonlit glade faded from his vision, he heard the galloping of hooves coming in his direction. He wheeled around; trying to ascertain what enemy was advancing on him. His skeletons tightened their ring around him as his golem uprooted a small tree to use as an impromptu club.

Thalasi could hear the whining of goats becoming louder. _This is strange. Why didn't I notice the goats before? _The answer became clear when 5 goat-men charged at him from the side.

The goat-men seemed to be a combination of both a goat and a man: it had a human chest and torso, with 2 arms waving a huge axe. From waist down it resembled the back half of a goat, complete with hooves. Its head was the head of a goat except the eyes, which were blazing with red flames.

The goats brayed and clashed into combat with Thalasi's minions. They wielded their axes well, using the blade to chop into the skeletons' body while parrying the return attack by blocking the sickle blade with the flat of the axe.

The skeletons were having a hard time, but the golem managed to stand its ground. One of the goat men slammed its axe into the golem's shoulder, only to find it lodged there by the regenerating earth. In return, the golem brought its club in a wide arc and smashed the goat man hard on one of its legs. It brayed as the bone snapped and teetered on its remaining leg. The golem promptly smashed its fist into the goat man's chest, sending it flying backward.

The one remaining goat man charged at Thalasi, bringing its axe into a vicious overhead chop. Thalasi raised his shield to block but the axe cleaved through the head and struck the bone plating on the side of Thalasi's forearm. Thalasi grunted at the pain of the blow and leaped backward, raising his wand at the same time.

"Triplicare i denti!"

Three teeth burst out from the tip of the wand, rushing towards the animal. The goat man brayed and brought its axe into the same blocking manoeuvre that its companions used to deflect the sickles. Its aiming was correct, but the metal of the axe simply could not withstand the magical teeth.

One tooth struck the flat of the axe, cracking the metal. The other two smashed into the wooden handle of the axe, splintering it and causing the metal head to fall uselessly to the ground.

The goat man roared and came rushing at Thalasi, but this time Thalasi drew out his dagger. He waited until the goat man was in a full tilt charge before attacking. Instead of sidestepping the attack and striking from the side, Thalasi stepped forward into the rush and shot his arm out towards the throat of the goat man. The goat man brayed and raised its hand to block, but the momentum it was travelling at was to quick for it to block fully. The dagger grazed its throat and Thalasi accepted a heavy blow to his shoulder in return. The goat man wheeled around, but Thalasi knew it would not fight for much longer. The cut at its neck was green and infected, as the poison had already entered its bloodstream.

It started to wind up for a second charge but growled and fell to one knee. It grasped its neck with one hand and glared at Thalasi with hatred in its eyes.

Thalasi sent a tooth into its face.

His minions had also managed to dispatch the remaining attackers, as the golem could overpower the goat men easily. Although the skeletons had a hard time initially, like the golem, they also could overpower the goat men due to the simple reason of not being able to feel pain. As such, although it caused the bones to crack and become less stable, the skeletons managed to launch into very aggressive attack routines that neglected bodily defence, and as such could damage the goat men.

A braying howl split the night as Thalasi regrouped his forces. _I had better flee before more enemies arrive._ Thalasi threw caution into the wind and sprinted towards the direction of the waypoint, his golem and skeletons following suit.

The leaves rustled as Thalasi plunged into the forest. It seems that he was not the only one, however, as the nearby trees also started to shake. Out of the darkness charged more goat men, along with many humanoid figures. They were similar to the corrupted rogues like Blood Raven except that they had yellow skin. Thalasi could see that some carried bows while others deftly handled spears.

The whistle of arrows was the only warning Thalasi had before he heard the _thunking _of the arrows around him. Although he was presenting a moving target, he kew that sooner of later one of the arrows would find its mark.

_Time for another layer of defence, then._

"L'osso puro bianco, la comando! Sorgere su dalle profondità e proteggere il suo padrone!"

Little specks of bone came rising out of the ground, flitting around Thalasi. They were so small it seemed like specks of dust or sand where flying wildly around Thalasi.

"Portare la sua vera forma!"

The specks of bone dust immediately came together and solidified into 3 huge slabs of bone. They were around 5 centimetres think and vaguely ovular in shape. One slab could easily cover around half of Thalasi's body.

The external bone armour started to revolve around Thalasi, blocking the arrows that were becoming dangerously close as the enemies started to estimate his speed. The arrows started to come in more frequently, and the slabs were starting to resemble pincushions. The golem and skeletons also had several arrows sticking out from their bodies.

Thalasi increased his speed slightly, but was already moving at his maximum. _Come on, I know the waypoint is around here somewhere! _

A few minutes later, Thalasi could see the trees getting thinner. _Yes! Just a little more, I'm getting close… _the arrows where also pouring in now, making the slabs to spin to fast around Thalasi that the trees nearby were losing branches.

Thalasi broke free of the tree covering and dashed towards the waypoint. The archers followed, and having no trees to block their shots, more arrows started to rain on him.

One of the slabs crumbled back into dust, and the other two where showing many cracks running up and down the whole length of bone.

Thalasi was panting and feeling his stamina drain.

_Can I make it in time?_


End file.
